Belgian Niels Albert (BKCP-Powerplus) won the sixth round of the Cyclocross World Cup and showed the best timing. Immediately after the start, he pulled away from the field together with his teammate Philipp Walsleben and the Czech Martin Bina (Kwadro-Stannah). He quickly put his cards on the table, because already in the second round it was difficult for his two competitors to keep up the pace. But this was particularly important for Walsleben. At this point, World Cup leader Lars van der Haar (Argos-Shimano) was in twelfth place and would have had to hand over the leader's jersey to the German champions.
As the race progressed, however, it became apparent that the only 22-year-old Van der Haar was pursuing the better tactics. Together with world champion Sven Nys (Crelan-AA Drink), who also started weakly, he initially set off in pursuit of Bina and French champion Francis Mourey (FDJ.fr).
The speed increase was successful. Because while Walsleben had to pay tribute to his opening attack, Mourey, Van der Haar and Nys emerged as Albert's closest rivals. At the beginning of the last lap, the gap had dropped to almost 20 seconds. However, Albert proved his stamina and, thanks to perfect timing, secured his second World Cup victory of the current season. Behind him, Van der Haar consolidated his overall lead with second place, which is now almost impossible to take away from him. Nys celebrated his first World Cup podium of the season in third place. Mourey had to admit defeat just behind with fourth place.
In the end, Walsleben finished 11th. The second best German was Sascha Weber (Differdange) in 16th place.
In the women's category, World Cup leader Katie Compton (Trek) once again underlined her top position. Unlike Van der Haar in the men's race, she set the tone right from the start and rode alone at the top together with world champion Marianne Vos (Rabobank). Behind them, however, an exciting fight for third place unfolded, with the best end for the Italian champion Eva Lechner (South Tyrol-Colnago).
//Result men
1. Niels Albert (BKCP-Powerplus) 1:06:33
2. Lars van der Haar (Argos-Shimano) 0:00:05
3. Sven Nys (Crelan-AA Drink) 0:00:05
4. Francis Mourey (FDJ.fr) 0:00:11
5. Martin Bina (Kwadro-Stannah) 0:00:41
//Total men
1. Lars van der Haar (Argos-Shimano) 407 points
2. Niels Albert (BKCP-Powerplus) 353 points
3. Philipp Walsleben (BKCP-Powerplus) 344 points
4. Kevin Pauwels (Sunweb-Napoleon Games) 313 points
5. Klaas Vantornout (Sunweb-Napoleon Games) 279 points
//Result women
1. Katie Compton (Trek) 36:46
2. Marianne Vos (Rabobank) 00:24
3. Eva Lechner (South Tyrol-Colnago) 01:10
4. Pauline Ferrand Prevot (Rabobank) 01:24
5. Sanne Cant (Enertherm-BKCP) 01:33
//Total women
1. Katie Compton (Trek) 290 points
2. Nikki Harris (Young Telenet-Fidea) 225 points
3. Sanne Cant (Enertherm-BKCP) 186 points
4. Marianne Vos (Rabobank) 160 points
5. Helen Wyman (Kona) 134 points